Reports from International Animal Rescue's primate rescue and rehabilitation centres.

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The Primate Diaries follows the ups and downs of our primate rescue units in Indonesia. Led by Veterinary Director Karmele, the team rehabilitate macaques, slow lorises and orangutans at our two rescue centres in Java and West Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo).

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8 August 2013

Updates on our orangutans large and small!

by vet Christine
Nelson from the US

Desi, Prima and Helen hang out in the new enclosure

The past month
was busy as usual in Ketapang and Sungai Awan, and was kicked off by moving Prima,
one of our adolescent females, to the forest
enclosure. Here she was reunited with
her former cagemate, Helen, and a couple of other friends. Helen and Prima are the next candidates for
release, but their behavior must be evaluated first to ensure they will be able
to survive in the wild. In the enclosure,
the girls are observed from the time they wake up until the time they go to sleep
for the night, which makes for a long day! Some food is provisioned, but they are free to search the trees for
fruit and leaves. Data is taken to
determine how they are spending their time, what kind of forest foods they are
finding and where, and how efficiently they are making their nests.

Aside from the
group of females that moved earlier in July (see Adult Orangutans on the Move),
the team has also started to transfer some of our older males to the new
center. There is a load of coordination
and preparation that goes into any move, but it is worth it when all is
accomplished safely and efficiently. Much
like their female counterparts, John, Patrick, and Jimo had smooth anesthesias
and were very curious to see the bustling streets of Ketapang fly by during the
transport. They are now busy exploring
and adjusting to their new temporary digs in the more tranquil setting of Sungai
Awan. They will move into larger,
outdoor enclosures when construction is finished.

The gorgeous new addition

July has also
brought us a tiny new baby named Marie. She
literally arrived on our doorstep one eveningafter being surrendered to IAR by her
temporary owner. Marie only weighs about
2 kilograms, but she
is likely around 7 to 9 months old. She is thin and very small for her
age, potentially due to malnourishment. She does show some promising wild
behavior, as she climbs well on her hammock, likes to play with leaves, and
loves to eat the fruit we pick for her. The baby was found by
a fisherman who was walking in the forest and heard crying. He says the little orangutan was there alone
(which would be highly unusual), so he took her back to his home when her
mother did not come for her. The man
kept her for a couple of weeks, but decided to hand her over to IAR because he
could not afford to feed her any longer. She was bathed often, had been eating rice and bananas, and was given milk,
sometimes the strawberry-flavored variety. We may never know the fate of her mother or Marie’s true story, but we
are glad she is now under our care.